Sliding flexible blind for a veranda



' 4115.8, 1935. E, MORELL. 1,987,488

SLIDING FLEXIBLE BLIND FOR A VERANDA Filed Sept. 15, 1933 I EUGENIO 1 MORELLI INVENTOR Q! ATTORNEYS Patented Jan. 8, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application September 15, 1933, Serial No. 689,504

7 In Italy September 30, 1932 3Claims. (c1. l56-16) The present invention has for its subject matter a roll-blind for rooms having in front of them a terrace or veranda, by means of which it is practicable to close the aperture existing between the room and the veranda or, instead, to close the front portion of the veranda so as to create, in the latter case, a veranda-room.

The roll-blind essentially comprises the blind proper, made of timber or other suitablematerial, laterally secured (by means of suitable plates) to special chains running in guides (front ceiling and rear guides), the front guides being arranged at the front of the veranda, the ceiling 'guides on the under-face of the ceiling of the veranda, and the rear guides at the aperture by which the room is connected to the veranda.

The blind proper is secured to sprocket wheels fixed to a horizontal shaft actuated through suitable reducing gears by a hand-crank.

The accompanying drawing illustrates, merely by way of example, an execution form of the invention.

Fig. 1 is a cross section through a veranda and through a room connected thereto.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section therethrough.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary detail view of the. blind and a chain thereof.

In the drawing: A is an internal room; B is a; veranda connected to the room A by an aperture 0; C are uprights provided-in the outer aperture or'window of the veranda, these uprights having fixed to them the front guides; P are the top guides fixed to the underside of the veranda ceiling; M denotes the rear guides vertically fixed in the aperture interconnecting the room A and the veranda B while G is the blind proper.

The blind proper G may be made of timber or other suitable material and is laterally fixed to the special chains S by means of connecting plates or lugs K. At its two ends the blind proper has two trapezes exhibiting a special profile in order to prevent bending both in vertical and in horizontal direction; in the case of wide blinds, special slides are arranged to run on guides D which, according to the requirements of the case, may either be confined to the ceiling alone or may extend down to the fioor in order to support the blind and prevent its being shaken by the wind.

As already mentioned, the guides in which travel the blind chains are three in number, viz. one top, one front and one rear guide.

With the exception of the front guide, the others consist in a simple U-beam suitably The front guides on the contrary are secured to iron stanchions C, viz. to figured beams, and form an outward projection C which, in conjunction with the blind gives an outwardly projecting bay that may be in the shape of a curved 5 or of a broken line.

In order to prevent the blind from quitting the guides and in order to reduce the heavy friction of the chains, smooth square irons J are provided inside the guides and the chain pins K roll on the smooth surface of said irons by means of rollers R instead of sliding thereon.

, Operating yearn-The travelling motion of the blind is obtained by means of the hand crank E.

Rigidly connected to the crank E is a toothed 15 pinion E which, through a chain S or otherwise, transmits the motion to the reducing gear F, this reducing gear including the large wheel T and small concentric wheel V rigidly rotatable therewith, the gear as an ensemble in its turn, by means of a chain Q or otherwise, actuates the main shaft N to which are fixed the sprocket wheels H by which the blind is carried.

The main shaft N revolves in swinging ballbearings and has two special supports. at its ends, the supports being so constructed as to facilitate the taking asunder and re-assembling of the parts.

The blind-carrying chains have, at determined intervals, links consisting of two plates,"between which the blind boards or blades are arranged. The chain pins are provided with rollers to facilitate motion.

The sprocket wheels L provided below and serving as jockey wheels are mounted on suitable take-ups for the purpose of adjusting the tension of the chains.

At the rear of the two ends of the blind, springs (not shown) may be provided in order to assist the travelling motion of the blind. 40

Such springs, by means of asteel cable transmit their suitably graduated effort to the drivin shaft in order to make up for the increase in weight due to the different positions of the travelling blind. 45

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention and in what manner the same isto be performed; I declare that what I claim is:-

1. The combination, with a veranda disposed in front of an opening'leading into a room of a house and itself having a front opening opposite to the first mentioned opening, of means for screening either the room or the veranda opening at. will, comprising corresponding guides disposed t at the side edges of both of said openings and across the ceiling of the veranda between the same, guide rollers adjacent to the upper and lower portions of the guides at the edges of the openings, corresponding chains running over said rollers, through said guides and in the floor of the veranda, a sliding flexible blind of suitable material secured laterally to said chains, and means for causing said chains to travel in said guides and thereby moving said blind.

2. The combination, with a veranda disposed in front of an opening leading into a room of a house and itself having a front opening opposite to the first mentioned opening, of means for screening either the room or the veranda opening at will, comprising corresponding guides disposed at the side edges of both of said openings and across the ceiling of the veranda between the same, guide rollers adjacent to the upper and lower portions of the guides at the' edges of the openings, corresponding chains running over said rollers, through said guides and in the floor of the veranda, a series of plates disposed on each of said chains, a sliding flexible blind of suitable material secured laterally to said plates, and

lower portions of the guides at the edges of the openings, corresponding chains running over said rollers, through said guides and in the floor of the veranda, a plurality of plates individually secured to and integral with links of said chains so as to form projections thereon, an articulated sliding blind including an interconnected series of laterally extending and parallel members secured at the ends thereof to the plates upon said corresponding chains, and means for causing said chains to travel in said guides and thereby moving said blind.

EUGENIO MORELLI. 

